War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle (2008) #5

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Ennis brings back the humor for the finale, but it’s different now. The protagonist isn’t a buffoon anymore, so it changes how the humor can play.

Most of the story takes place on the ground and Chaykin’s able to handle it (he still screws up a flying sequence at the opening of the issue); it also gives Ennis a chance to get away from the airbase. The majority of the issue is actually talking heads, with Ennis again relying on the dialogue to convey the moment. The title’s relevance finales becomes clear in the scene to good effect.

It’s an excellent series, even with the Chaykin art, and one of Ennis’s more academic approaches to comic book writing. One can see how he uses each plot device and development to bring it to the conclusion. The use of humor, in particular, is worth a considered look. Ennis’s writing is fantastic.

War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle (2008) #4

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Now, at this issue, Ennis has shed the humor, he’s shed the doofus protagonist, he’s even shed enough of the supporting cast one can discern their identities even with Chaykin’s art… War Is Hell is now just a World War I comic. As such, it’s just an intense, constant tragedy.

It makes the issue somewhat difficult to talk about; while things happen, recounting it would be listing the dead. Ennis is still relying a lot on dialogue; instead of giving a history lesson in narration, he’s using the dialogue to inform the protagonist—and the reader—of the events unfolding at the same time in the rest of Europe. For all the flying, the series has never left the airbase; it’s getting claustrophobic.

This issue also might be the first where I don’t have anything particularly nasty to say about Chaykin. He hasn’t gotten better, the book’s gotten more depressing.

War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle (2008) #3

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I do so wish Chaykin took the time to make the characters look different. If it weren’t for the differences in hair color, I’d be constantly confused. Even with the hair color, it’s still sometimes a challenge to immediately identify the protagonist.

After introducing humor into the series last issue, Ennis changes it up again this issue. Here the protagonist starts to understand the war; Ennis does all this edification in dialogue. War Is Hell is a success more in how Ennis is able to turn the series into an emotional self-discovery piece than an action comic.

Chaykin, obviously, is no longer suited for either type of story, but he’s completely incapable of doing dogfights and only mildly incapable of doing introspective scenes. And Ennis does work with what Chaykin is capable of doing. There’s not a lot of sitting and moping, it’s all in dramatic scenes.

Excellent stuff.

War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle (2008) #2

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It takes Ennis until the last two or three pages to finally set up War Is Hell. It’s a great use of five issues, because his reveal isn’t particularly extraordinary. it’s just funny.

This issue also features the first complicated dogfight and Chaykin fails miserably. The rest of his layouts are fine, good even. But the dogfight is miserable and probably not worth the time to discern what he’s trying to convey.

Ennis gives a lot of attention to the dialogue here—Ennis loves his British dialects, but he isn’t using them in War Is Hell. Instead, he’s attempting to convey a very natural dialogue. It takes a tad more careful reading, but it’s worth it for the effect.

He’s also playing with the idea of a traditional protagonist. The supporting characters are far stronger so far. While unbalanced, the emphasis feels organic.

The issue’s quite good, writing trumping art.

War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle (2008) #1

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Here’s the thing about Chaykin… no matter how many misshapen heads he draws, he still knows how to compose a panel and a page. Doesn’t remember what to do with it once that task is done (or more likely care to take the time), but he can lay it out right.

So while he’s not the best fit for War Is Hell—I mean, it’d love to see the script done by an artist who cares—he still brings it off. It doesn’t hurt Ennis’s script for this issue is outstanding. He lets himself have a little fun, getting some humor into a bad situation, but eventually the awfulness of it comes through and it hits.

There’s only one other problem—a scene relying on the reader hearing what the characters are hearing. It’s a strange mistake for Ennis. Otherwise, everything else he does in the issue works out great.

Locke & Key (2008) #6

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Hmm.

Right after I say something nice about Rodriguez, this issue happens.

Actually, it’s not Rodriguez’s fault. Hill gives him something impossible to draw as static images (a transformation) and it just flops.

As for the rest of the issue, Hill does a pretty good job wrapping up some of the story and laying the groundwork for future series. There’s one problem where he contradicts himself. In dialogue, the villain explains the story as the finish, mocking Bode’s youthful idea the story is just starting.

Obviously, the story is just starting, which makes the villain just seem a little dumb and pointless and Hill’s dialogue superficial and thoughtless.

Hill brings back the narration, this time from Ty, the oldest brother, and it’s a mistake. Bode’s the series’s best “good” character, maybe because he’s the only one Hill’s spent any time developing.

Still, those complaints aside, it’s a decent enough finish.

Locke & Key (2008) #5

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I think this issue is Hill’s first without any narration. It opens with the psycho—Sam—then flip-flops between him and Bode. Bode’s got his friend in the well, who reveals she’s not a friend this issue.

Hill and Rodriguez get gratuitously violent when Sam attacks the daughter (still don’t remember her name), to the point it’s way too rough for the comic. Locke & Key has been disturbing, but even with all the violence, it’s never been too much.

Here, they take it too far. So far, in fact, it’s unbelievable later when the dialogue suggests the daughter survived the assault.

It’s also Hill’s first all-action issue and he does pretty well. The colorist screws up the time of day for a bit.

And I might finally be willing to say I’m liking Rodriguez’s art. He really makes this issue work.

Maybe the best issue overall (so far).

Locke & Key (2008) #4

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Hill really goes all out this issue; it’s a wholly unlikable issue and probably the series’s best in terms of writing. Hill’s not concerned with writing likable characters or even really developing the big mystery behind Locke & Key. Instead, he focuses mostly on the psychotic murderer who’s out to get the family again—there’s some fill-in, revealing the kid’s motivation was uncanny and supernatural, not just a psychopathic kid (his sidekick, who barely has a place, probably was just a nutter).

And when Hill does go to the family, he’s just doing little stuff. The youngest one, Bode, is annoying people with a joke (to remind the reader of everything going on with him). But what’s more interesting is how Hill momentarily gets into the older son… who seems almost as disturbed as the murderer.

The issue makes the reader feel creeped out and sick, which means Hill succeeds.

Locke & Key (2008) #3

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And now Hill dedicated a whole issue to the girl. Again, I like his approach, but it’s just not believable. He’s got the little brother, Bode, I think, showing the sister his out of body experience and the sister thinks he’s playing. Maybe if they were regular kids, but not after the trauma they’d been through. Maybe the lack of post-traumatic stress is where Hill goes off the rails. His characters only work if you see them a little, like during a comic book. He forgets the other characters see them all the time.

Still, it’s a compelling read (maybe because Hill ups the foreboding ante again). I’m probably the only one, but the conclusion to the issue–Hill has a nice, trite finish to make it upbeat–is rather homoerotic.

And Rodriguez? His art still isn’t growing on me. He has a good sense of composition, but his details are loose.

Locke & Key (2008) #2

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Hill tells most of the issue from the perspective of a ten year-old. Maybe ten. He might even be younger.

Hill’s not particularly good at writing the character, because his vocabulary is way too mature. Still, it’s a likable character (maybe it would work if he were thirteen… or if Hill had established him as a smarty-pants in the first issue).

There’s more stuff with the mom and the uncle this issue (the second half feels like there are no adults around at all, which sort of fits—Rodriguez draws the uncle about the same age as the oldest kid). The mom’s a problem; Hill can’t seem to make her real.

Still, his plotting is excellent. Even though it’s a fast read, he does manage to introduce a new character and a connection to the first issue.

Hopefully, the rest of the cast gets page time pretty soon.